Ishwa helper Reged: 03/03/02 Posts: 553

Re: To Vinaire:Effects of Tawhid (One God) on Human L [Re: VJR] #15891 - 05/06/02 08:54 AM Edit Reply Quote

Thanks, Vinaire. About Spirit, VJR: I don't know what the definition of spirit is. But if Atman is meant, than all creatures=living beings have = are an Atman (with a Jada part). The three stages are plant-consciousness, animal-consciousness and man-consciousness, with an increasing degree of self-determination. (re-generation is a kind of self-determination typical of living beings. That's the Atman part of the creatures to lead or re-direction the Jada part) As J�v�tman has to do with creatures, it has=is an Atman (and Jada), only Pr�krta hasn't. But both have=are Brahman. I know this might arouse protests by many. But this is another way of thinking, more in line with Brahman being (present in) all living beings. Islam as Muslim explains sounds more like the Bhedabheda-v�da: non-strict dualism: God is totally different from his creation, but with the role of a personal Allah. Only the personal experience of the believers of that personalized Allah is very paternalistic and harsh sometimes as compared to the role of Vishnu. The Avat�ra role is played not by the personalized God, but by angels. One particular angel is Evil, named Shaitan, a real competitor to Allah, sometimes almost equal to him in power. Human beings are a playing ball of those two forces, having almost no will power or active role of their own. Edited by Ishwa on 05/06/02 06:35 AM (server time).